Working group 11 - Privilege and Power

Key Points (Updated Live)

“If you are here to help me, you are wasting your time. If you are here because your liberation is bound up with mine, let’s work together.”
(Lilla Watson and First Peoples activists)

It is the responsibility of the privileged to question, disrupt and reframe power and privilege.

It is the personal responsibility of each of us to question our privilege and oppressive behaviours.
Not just outsource it to the brutalised and targeted people, but to build transparency, accountability and mindfulness into our work.

These actions need to be visible and equitable, built into each Arts Front campaign.

Critiques of privilege and power need to be created by us, so we can come prepared, not just wait to be led and see what happens.

Ignorance is a choice, not an excuse.
This is risky business, for all of us.

Seeking justice is challenging, lets not assume that it will be comfortable.

Cultural safety, accessibility and cultural competencies are a great start, but let’s make sure that they don’t become tick-boxes, rubber-stamped and potentially token protocols.

This is our opportunity for change:
We propose that every campaign builds in a power and privilege awareness process into their visions and actions, as on ongoing and agile feedback loop, to share, learn and review.

We propose a working group for Arts Front 2030, to create a set of critical literacy tools, workshops, support materials and actions.

Jen Lyons-Reid and Carl Kuddell from Change Media will facilitate the working group, with an invitation for other people and organisations to join the development of tool kits, resources and workshop models to question, disrupt and reframe power and privilege.